Everyone likes pizza. But let’s face it, the pizza boxes are a hassle and take up space in the trash and on the kitchen counter. Wouldn’t it be nice if pizza boxes had usefulness beyond just delivering a hot meal?

Pizza Hut agrees and has had several clever iterations of their boxes in different markets – all of which extend the usefulness of the box itself. For example, there is a pizza box that turns into a movie projector, another that is a playable DJ box, and yet another that turns into a game box for flick football. That’s great news for extending the life of the box, and making the party livelier.

But, did you also realize that pizza boxes are not generally recyclable? While cardboard can certainly be recycled, most pizza boxes are contaminated with grease and food, rendering them unsuitable for recycling. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but given the mountains of boxes piling up in college dorms, there should be a solution.

So, next time you order a pizza, consider how the packaging could be more useful.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students about their pizza habits. What happens to the boxes? How many boxes are used in an average week?